Happy happy Friday!! In lieu of the usual Five on Friday, this week I’m giving y’all a deeper look into my hectic OB/GYN rotation. Three weeks down and two to go! And basically I can’t think of five exciting things that I’ve done this week other than procedures at work. #lifeofaPAstudent.
– Thursday, January 22nd –
6:00am – Alarm goes off and I hate my life. Some say I’m a morning person, but not this early. Hit snooze and bury myself in my covers.
6:10am – Snooze goes off. Head to the bathroom and get somewhat ready. I don’t spend much time on my hair because it will get messed up under a scrub cap anyway. Mascara is a must though!
6:25am – Head into the kitchen and make breakfast. I have to make eggs every morning or I don’t function properly. You’d think with me getting up so early that I’d rather just grab a granola bar or something, but no. This girl’s gotta get her good start to the day!
6:35am – Make my lunch for the day. For today it’s a salad with spinach, cucumbers, tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and shrimp. In that order. I really hate making lunch in the morning and usually like to have something ready in the fridge, but oh well.
6:55am – Leave the house and commute 35 minutes to the hospital. I’m not a fan of commuting, but I am a fan of slowly sipping my coffee and having a little jam sesh in the car.
7:30am – Arrive at the hospital, change into new scrubs, and wait for my preceptor. I usually arrive 30 minutes before he does on any given day, but at least I don’t ever feel late!
8:15am – Scrub in and start our c-section. This patient had to have one because her baby had breech presentation (butt down instead of head down). The NP working with us was my doctor’s first assist, and I was second. He made the incision, went through a couple layers, got the baby out, and handed it to me. I suctioned her mouth and nose and handed her off to the nurses. Getting the baby out is quick, but then you gotta put everything back together. After delivering the placenta, the doc sutured everything back together and I got to throw a few knots during the process. Next came my favorite part, getting to close! During my first c-section I only got to do a little suturing, but this time I closed her whole incision and was very excited when I got compliments on how “pretty” it looked! My work here is done 🙂
This is the how we close the c-section incision (and this technique is generally used a lot in surgery). It’s called the running subcuticular and basically you run the needle back and forth very superficially so that the [absorbable] suture brings the skin together underneath and it makes a nice clean line.
via
9:00am – Change out of scrubs and head to the office for business as usual. The morning is filled with complete physicals, pap smears, postpartum visits, hysterectomy post-ops, and of course the routine OB visits. I’m definitely seeing some improvement in my pelvic exams & paps these days. That sounds so weird, right?!?
12:15pm – We’re done seeing patients for the morning and it’s time for lunch. Free lunch, that is, thanks to the lovely pharmaceutical sales reps. Today’s rep brought some yummy Greek food from Zoe’s Kitchen (so I didn’t get to eat that salad that I worked so hard on this morning). She talked about Qsymia, a newer weight-loss drug that has been approved by the FDA. My preceptor had actually told me to research it a few days ago, so it was cool to actually know what she was talking about and I got to learn a little more about the medication.
1:00pm – We jump in the car and head to the hospital for another c-section. Two in one day… yes!! This was a 36 year old woman having her 6th child and it was also breech presentation. This time I got to first assist (whoop whoop!) and got to get my hands in there a lot more. My doc made the incision and I helped him pull apart the fat and muscle. Once he cut the uterus and broke the water, it was time to get the baby out. I had to push down on the mom’s stomach and we had ourselves another baby girl! I got to close again and I have to say that c-sections have been my favorite surgery so far.
2:00pm – We’re back at the office with all rooms full of patients. The afternoon was business as usual.
5:15pm – Wrap up seeing patients and finally head home. All in a good day’s work!
5:45pm – Get home, chill out, and catch up with the roomies. We love sharing our clinical stories, except Jeff doesn’t care to hear about the OB ones too much. Can’t blame him.
7:00pm – Make dinner… naked burrito it is! Oh, and Sarah & I shovel down some poundcake that Jeff brought home from work. Did I mention how much I love sweets?
8:00pm – Do a little blogging. I don’t get to enough theses days!!
8:45pm – Shower so I don’t have to in the morning then do a little studying and log patients. That gets old very quickly, but it will be great to have a giant spreadsheet of everything I did my clinical year.
10:00pm – Call Ryan and then head to bed. Trying to fall asleep a little earlier each day so I don’t feel like death in the morning (but I still do). Good night!
And of course, I’ll leave your with yet another medical funny. Oh, and one last thing- I finally got to assist with a vaginal delivery this week and I have to admit it was pretty cool! Gross, but cool. I’ll spare you those [very graphic] details but all I have to say is that when I have a baby some day, no one… and I mean no one except the doctor and nurses will be going down there. The little babies sure are cute though!
I know this post was super long, but if you made it here to the end, thanks for letting me share my experiences with you! I’m so ready for this weekend and can’t wait to sleep in, catch up on shows, and clean up my disaster of a room. TGIF y’all!
Linking with Amanda & Christina.
What a day! I've been trying to put myself to bed a little earlier everyday as well, it really does help in the morning!
I'm so glad that you'll actually get to have some time to relax this weekend!! The c-section sounds so cool (how long do those operations usually last? I'm always baffled to learn that procedures take nearly no time all)! And yeah, I think you've convinced me that no one will be down south during delivery for me too!! haha! Happy Friday friend!!
"6:55am – Leave the house and commute 35 minutes to the hospital. I'm not a fan of commuting, but I am a fan of slowly sipping my coffee and having a little jam sesh in the car." this describes my life.
What a long day, but what an exciting day for sure! What you said about your commute is quite accurate in my life. I hope you have a great weekend!
Phew – what a day!!! But at least you're out at a relatively normal hour!! I can't believe how fast your rotations go – I mean easy for me to say lol! xo, Biana – BlovedBoston
Wow – that's quite the packed day! Hope you have a relaxing weekend 🙂
Loved this post. I just found your blog from the linkup and this is such a nice wrap-up of your day as a PA. I've been trying to push myself to work in the direction of being a PA, but I'll still need to go back to community college for some extra classes before applying and cannot get myself motivated enough to sign up. Enjoy your weekend!
What a busy day!! It sounds so neat though! Hope you get to relax and enjoy yourself this weekend!! xo
Wow that's a busy day! And I'm trying to picture myself being in on the action of a C-section — it doesn't look so pretty! Definitely admire you for that! Hope you have a wonderful weekend! And I hate I missed blogger date, so let's get dinner soon?!
xo Southern Style
WOW! Kristina you truly deserve some rest and I am sure vacations don't sound bad at all. From now on every-time I'll try to complain about having lots to do I will remember your hectic OB/GYN rotation.
Xo, Stephanie Alban
I love reading the insider info from these posts! 🙂 Have a great weekend!
I am so not a morning person, I don't know how you do those 6:00am wakeup calls! Sounds like such a fascinating and rewarding rotation, and I agree when I have a baby I don't even want my husband "down there" as I'm giving birth and he totally agrees lol.
Happy Friday 🙂
I loved OB so much that is originally what I was planning on going into but then the little people took over 😉 My first vaginal delivery I ever saw was an 11 pound baby…..I have been scarred for life!
Sounds like a perfect day if you ask me 😉 can't wait for my OB/GYN rotation next!!
This is awesome! Love how much you love what you're doing! xo
i love this post- it was exactly how my days were during my clinical year in Boston. OB is the best! And I agree, there will be no one to witness my vaginal birth besides the doc! haha
-Jessi
Love this so much! Love this peek into your life. And I'm also hoping Nancy goes on and turns to I don't have to have that dang c-section! xx
These are always my favorite types of posts! Sounds like a busy but very rewarding day! It must be so special to help bring babies into the world!
Such a busy but amazing day!!! That must be such a rewarding job helping deliver those babies.
xo,
Angela
incredible!!! Totally enjoyed this (haha) Way to go!
When I was in nursing school I only saw c sections never a vaginal and I was so sad! But after hearing how gory vaginals are, I think it's a good reason I didn't see one or I would have never wanted to have kids! Loved reading this!
Ally – Life as I know it
I would love to do those kind of rotations for a few months. If there was one thing I would specialize in, it would definitely be labor and delivery. I find that stuff so interesting, yet so many people say the opposite, that they could never do labor and delivery because they wouldn't be able to watch babies suffer. Think your passion to help them has to be greater than your fear of losing them.
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